We are constantly being told what to do. I shut down the noise of living other people’s rules.I don’t care who’s on the list and how often they self-congratulate each other. I care what they stand for and what they actually do in terms of impact, not activity.

One of the reasons people tire of social media is not because of the tools but because people are yelling at us and trying to get our attention (like old world advertising). They are telling us who we should be friends with, what words we shouldn’t use on our LinkedIn profile and what we should think about important issues. 

The first time I went to SxSW many years ago, I flew from San Francisco to Austin. A man was boarding the plane and I couldn’t see who he was. But this is what I heard:

Flight attendant: “Sir, you can’t bring that open bottle of beer on the plane.”
Man: “Come on. It’s a great beer.”
Flight attendant: “It’s the law.”
Man: ” Don’t you know who I am?”
Flight attendant: “Neither I nor the law cares.”

When he came on the plane, I giggled. He was a so called social media “guru” and no one outside of this community had a clue that he was a self proclaimed authority and expert.

Let’s get back to basics. Let’s please call bullshit on bullshit. Life is too short!

Don’t let anything or anyone get in your way of who you want to be and what you want to do. We all have choices. Make one today.